(The Flash) Frozen Flashpoint: Chapter 26 - New Leaf

Chapter 26 - New Leaf

Summary: Mothers and daughters have a heart-to-heart talk.

As Lyra sat down on the bed in the medical wing, she looked between Caitlin and Carla. Carla looked at Caitlin and asked gently, "May I check up on her? I would like to get to know my granddaughter a little."

Caitlin considered it for a moment. While she would have liked to finish the examination herself, she could understand her mother's motivation, and this could be the first sign of good faith and trust Caitlin shows her mother in many years.

After a moment, Caitlin smiled at Carla and replied softly, "Of course, Mother."

Carla gave Caitlin a small smile, and that was already more than Caitlin had gotten from her mother since she was just a kid.

Her mother then walked to stand next to Lyra and asked in a motherly voice Caitlin missed so much, "Hello dear, I don't think I got your name earlier."

Lyra gave Carla her usual wide smile. "Hi, Nana. My name is Lyra Nora Snow-Allen."

Carla smiled softly with a faraway look in her eyes as she said, "Your mother always loved the stars."

Without even thinking, the words slipped out of Caitlin's lips, "Dad was a great teacher." But Caitlin noticed the words didn't have the same bite they usually held when she tried to throw the fact in her mother's face.

Carla froze at the words, but when the tone registered with her, she gave a small, sad smile to Caitlin and responded gently, "He was."

Caitlin noticed the odd look that passed over Lyra's face for a moment, though before she could question it, the girl regained her usual smile and said, "Hey Nana, did Mom ever break any rules?"

Carla seemed to consider the question for a moment before responding, "Well, she always liked to follow the rules, but when she was little, Caitlin did have the occasional rebellious phase. Though Frost was more of the rule-breaking kind."

Caitlin could feel herself blush and heard Frost in the back of her mind, 'That was so not cool of her to say.' Caitlin followed those words with a loud whine of her own, "Mother!"

Carla shot Caitlin a small smirk before turning back toward Lyra, still checking her vitals as she asked slowly, "What about you, young lady?"

Lyra had to scratch the back of her head a little awkwardly in a way that reminded Caitlin so much of her fiancé. After a forced chuckle, Lyra answered, "Well, Mom always said that I scold people like her and always get into trouble like Dad."

Carla raised an amused eyebrow at her before stepping back. Her face still smiling as she asked, "Tell me dear, is Caitlin a good mother in the future?"

Caitlin remembered asking the same herself, and while she knew what Lyra would answer, she still felt nervous.

Lyra's smile grew a little distant as she answered, "Yeah. Even when things just kept getting worse and worse, she would always come back home with a smile so we would feel everything was okay. Each birthday she would sit the whole day with us, just doing whatever it was we wanted. Mom and Mama were always the best."

Caitlin could feel her eyes sting a little, though what surprised her was when she noticed her mother had a single tear running down her cheek as well.

Carla kept her small smile and said quietly, "I am happy to hear that, dear. I always worried that my own subpar skills as a mother would influence Caitlin's, but she grew up to be the woman I always hoped she would."

Carla then did another surprising thing by hugging Lyra closely and saying, "And she raised a brave and amazing young woman."

Her mother seemed to hold the hug longer than Caitlin ever imagined she would, but it also looked like she was debating with herself about something.

Just before she broke the hug, Carla finally managed to ask in a fearful tone, "Was I part of your life?"

Lyra paused and pulled back a little to look at her grandmother. Carla seemed to only grow even more worried about the answer before Lyra finally responded, "Of course you were."

Carla tilted her head and asked as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, "I... was?"

Lyra nodded and answered in her usual chipper tone, "I mean, I didn't see you as much as Grandma Cecile. You stayed in your lab when we escaped Central City, so I mostly spoke with you through video calls, but sure, me and Mom talked lots with you."

This news shocked both mother and daughter, as neither of them could ever imagine they would have this kind of close relationship after all those years of distance and coldness.

Carla shook her head and then said with a smile, "You can run along now, dear."

Lyra beamed and said a quick "Thanks, Nana" before speeding away. Caitlin didn't even get the chance to scold her about using her powers so soon because her mother called her name.

Caitlin turned toward the older woman. Both of them locked their eyes but stayed silent for a long moment.

When the atmosphere became too tense, Caitlin was the first to break it by asking in a choked voice, "Why?"

Carla just tilted her head in confusion, and Caitlin found herself holding tears back as she began to ramble quickly, "Why did you do all of this? Why never tell me what you were doing at work? Why did you take all the blame for Dad? Why didn't you say anything all those years?!"

By the time she finished, Caitlin could feel at least a couple of tears escaping her hold. Carla took a step toward her but stopped short of hugging her as she said softly, "How could I not?"

Caitlin tried to wipe the tears away quickly while still staring at her mother, not understanding what she was saying.

Carla gave Caitlin a soft smile, and Caitlin couldn't remember what age she was the last time her mother did so, before saying, "You were always a daddy's girl more than anything. How could I take away the man you admired more than anything from you?"

Carla then looked down with a flicker of shame passing through her face as she said sadly, "Of course, the fault was my own to begin with. I was never a great mother; I knew it. I gave my work too high of a priority even before your illness. Your dad was the one to cook for you, to help you with your homework... I knew I had to protect the image you had of him over everything else."

Caitlin shook her head, no longer trying to hold or wipe her tears away. She caught her mother's arm and said with a wet voice, "No, that's not right."

Carla raised her head to look at Caitlin with a small, sad smile on her face as she replied, "Of course it is, dear. Your dad was a wonderful man..."

Caitlin shook her head so fast that it made her mother stop talking, or maybe it was Caitlin's hair flying into her face. The result remained the same, and Caitlin took the opportunity to speak herself, "Yes, he was. But you were a good mother in the beginning. Yes, you didn't cook or help with my homework, but you were there for each dinner, you would show up to every event in my school and clap as hard as Dad."

Caitlin swallowed the bile in her throat before adding, "That's why it hurt so much when you stopped. When all of a sudden you disappeared, and it looked like you just gave up on me. That's why I was bitter for all those years. I missed the mom I knew you could be and chose to stop being."

Carla surprised Caitlin again by pulling her into another tight hug and saying quietly to her, "I'm sorry. I thought I was doing what was best for you. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy."

Caitlin gave out a wet chuckle, her tears still streaming down her face, and she responded, "Maybe we should start by talking more honestly from now on?"

Carla smiled back with a wide smile Caitlin doubted she had worn in many years as she responded with, "A new leaf then?"

Caitlin could only nod with a smile of her own as she picked up some tissues from the table next to her and began wiping the tears away.

Carla's face then took the usual stony mask she wore as she asked evenly, "Does Mr. Allen make you happy, dear?"

Caitlin blinked twice at the question. 'It will take time to get used to her being so open and nice,' Frost snorted in the background.

Caitlin shook herself out of that state and answered with her usual smile, "More than anyone else, Mom."

Carla's mask melted back into a warm smile. After a moment of comfortable silence, Carla spoke again and said carefully, "I would like to speak with Frost again if it's possible."

'Oh uh,' Frost said in a nervous voice Caitlin didn't get to hear often. 'I'm sure it will be okay, Frost, just come out; she is your mom too,' Caitlin replied as she mentally tried to pull Frost to the front.

After a short battle of wills, Frost sighed in resignation and reluctantly switched places with Caitlin.

Now with a deeper voice and glowing blue eyes, Frost spoke awkwardly, "Hi, Mom, it's been a while."

Carla's eyes were wide as she raised her hand toward Frost's cheek and said in a breathless tone, "Look at how much you've grown. And still, your skin is as pale and cold as ice..." Her hand moved to Frost's hair. "Your hair as white as snow. And your eyes... eyes as blue as freezing water."

Frost was holding back a flinch, knowing that Carla was pointing out everything that makes her physically different than Caitlin. So, Frost was taken by surprise when Carla had a small tear running down her cheek as she said wistfully, "You're so beautiful. Just as the day I thought I lost you for good."

"You... You thought you lost me?" Frost asked, not quite believing what she was hearing.

Carla closed her eyes as if she was remembering something painful. "I never wanted to get rid of you. I wanted Caitlin back, but I considered you my daughter as well. When Caitlin couldn't even sense or remember you... My heart broke, and I mourned my lost daughter."

Her mother then opened her eyes, and the somber look was replaced by a warm and large smile as she added finally, "I was so happy to see you were still alive and that you worked everything out with Caitlin. Now I can have both my daughters back."

Frost had tears swimming in her eyes. "I always thought that you preferred Caitlin, and that's why you put me in a coma."

Carla pulled Frost so quickly into a hug that the meta almost got whiplash from the force. Without a single waver in her voice, the older woman spoke, "You are my daughter, and I would never want you gone. I love you and Caitlin equally. Thomas said that the cure would create a split personality effect with the two of you, much like now. I have no idea why you went into a coma after he treated the both of you. But I never forgot or stopped loving you."

Frost, for the first time in her life, let it all out and clung to her mother as she sobbed.

Carla held her and rubbed her back gently, saying in a soft voice, "Everything is okay, dear. We are all here now, a strange family without a doubt, but it is our family."

Caitlin couldn't stop herself from adding, 'She is right. We are a family, Barry included,' from the back of Frost's mind.

Frost's sobs subsided, and she let out in a small voice, "Family..."